1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to battery holders, and particularly to battery holders for holding cylindrically shaped batteries.
2. Description of Related Art
Battery holders are used for holding various types of batteries, such as back up batteries for rear time clocks in desktop computers. The battery holders of the back up batteries are mounted on mother boards of the desktop computers. Traditional battery holders can be referred to pages 22-23 of xe2x80x9cConnector Specifierxe2x80x9d published on September 2000, which is submitted herewith by Information Disclosure Statement (IDS), and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,395,263, 5,211,579, 5,537,022, 5,528,460 and 5,431,575. A battery holder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,022 is of two-piece configuration including a seat in which two AA batteries are received and a cover snapping over the seat to hold the batteries in the seat against removal. However, assembling the cover to the seat is complicated and time-consuming. In addition, the seat and the cover are of different configuration due to their distinct functions, thereby requiring different molds to form them. Thus, the manufacturing cost is increased.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,211,579 and 5,395,263 each disclose a battery holder addressing to the problem encountered by the ""022 patent. A battery holder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,579 comprises an insulating housing having a pair of opposite end walls, and a pair of conductive contacts respectively fixed adjacent to the end walls for electrically contacting with an inserted battery. One of the end walls defines a recess with a negative end of the inserted battery received therein. A conductive contact away from the recess has a latching projection overlying a positive end of the inserted battery. The recess and the latching projection together hold the battery against removal from the housing. However, because the insulating housing of the holder is made of plastic, the end walls thereof can hardly move to allow an easy insertion of the battery into the holder, which results in that the battery is difficult to be assembled to the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,263 discloses a battery holder including two independent contacts located at one end of the holder to electrically contact with one ends of two inserted AA batteries. A retainer is located at another end of the holder to electrically contact with the other ends of the batteries. The retainer has two elastic side clips for securing the batteries in the holder. However, each side clip of the retainer cannot provide a large deformation due to its configuration, whereby the batteries can not be reliably retained in the holder.
Hence, the present invention aims to provide a battery holder having contacts having better elasticity to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art devices. A copending application Ser. No. 10/116,293 filed Apr. 3, 2002, having the same applicant and the same assignee with the invention, discloses some approach.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a battery holder having a pair of conductive contacts for stably retaining an inserted battery in the holder.
In order to achieve the object set forth, a holder for holding a battery in accordance with the present invention comprises a dielectric housing including a pair of opposite end walls and a pair of sidewalls to thereby define a receiving space, and a pair of conductive contacts retained in the end walls. Each contact includes a contact portion projecting into the receiving space for electrically engaging with an inserted battery, and a tail extending downward for connecting to a circuit board. One of the contacts includes a pair of side beams. Each side beam has a first section and a second section integrally upwardly extending from the first section. The second section has a body perpendicular to the first section and an arm bent inwardly to be formed at an acute angle with respect to the body for abutting against the battery. The second section of the side beam defines a channel to further increase elasticity of the side beam.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.